Where Do You Belong
by TheRoseOfGryffindor
Summary: "Where do you belong?"   "I belong here, with him."  Silence filled the room, she was choosing her love for the worst of all Slytherins over her house allegiances!  She sighed, it had taken years to become brave enough to make the right choice.
1. Introduction to a New Life

Albus Dumbledore stood behind the desk in his office, looking like some benevolent patriarch as he smiled at the four heads of the four houses of Hogwarts.

"Good Evening" he said ignoring the irritated expressions on some of their faces. "I suppose you are all wanting to know why I asked you here?" He adjusted his spectacles and a tiny smile curled up on one side of his mouth as he noticed Snape practically mouth the word 'obviously.' "I know it is unusual for us to take a student in the middle of the year, but after much consideration I have decided to take on a Miss Clarissa Abelard from Amstax."

"What house will she be in?"

"That, Filius, is precisely why I have asked you and the others here. Miss Abelard should be joining us any moment, and then, Minerva if you would be so kind as to fetch the Sorting Hat, she will be sorted."

A light knock came on the office door.

"Come in."

"Am I late, sir?"

"No, perfectly punctual Miss Abelard."

She eyed the four houses' heads shyly, trying to figure out which one headed which house.

"Miss Clarissa, these are your prospective heads of house, Professor Sprout, Professor Flitwick, Professor Snape, and Professor McGonagall" he said indicating the tall grey haired woman in tartan who had just returned with the Sorting Hat.

" Nice to meet you all" she said shyly.

"You are familiar with the characteristics of each house I presume, Miss Abelard."

She eyed her questioner, Professor McGonagall, hesitantly.

"Yes, Hufflepuffs are hardworking and helpful, Ravenclaws are highly intelligent" her eyes flickered up towards McGonagall. "Gryffindors are brave and strong, and Slytherins are… are sly and power hungry?"

Professor Snape made a coughing sound as if to deride her summary.

He scowled. 'Sly and power-hungry' he thought, so this new student had already been poisoned against Slytherin House despite her transferring from the remotest of schools, Amstax, which was somewhere in the forests of the Northern United States. He folded his arms across his chest and waited as McGonagall explained the Sorting Hat to Clarissa. Standing next to him was Professor Sprout smiling kindly at Clare as she absently ran her fingers through her frizzy grey hair. Next to her Flitwick stood stock still, like a soldier at attention, his arms behind his back and his keen eyes watching Clare with interest.

McGonagall lowered the hat onto Clarissa Abelard's head and the room became quite silent.

'Well you're a difficult one to sort, must be your age has made you harder' the Hat said to Clare. 'You've got plenty of brains to go around, you're loyal and you don't mind hard work either, I even see traces of Slytherin virtues in you! You are very courageous as well, so what will it be? The mind, the labor, or the chivalry that dominates your destiny?…' The hat was silent for a moment. "I see bravery determining your course in life, far more than hard work or knoweledge, though you have a love for both. "GRYFFINDOR!" the hat shouted.

Flitwick, Sprout, and McGonagall all applauded. Snape however, seemed to be intent on scrutinizing a small sparrow flying outside the window. His attention turned to Clare, and he looked down at her with instinctive dislike.

Dumbledore drew his wand.

"Here is your schedule" he said tapping a sheet of parchment that only seconds before had been blank. "congratulations, Miss Abelard."

She smiled politely and McGonagall escorted her from the room towards Gryffindor Tower. Minerva did her best to impart all the useful knowledge of Hogwarts Castle to Clare as they walked towards Gryffindor Tower.

When they reached the bottom of the stairs that lead up to the Common Room and dormitories, McGonagall asked; "have you had anything to eat, Miss Abelard?"

"Yes, my mum packed me a lunch."

"Very well, I would like to ask you a strictly insignificant question, it is simply for the sake of my own curiosity that I wish to know how it is that you are familiar with phrases and words that are uniquely British when you yourself are from America?"

"My parents are British, and I was born here, though I don't remember much of it from then. My family moved to the States when I was only three or so."

Minerva's eyebrows rose as she took in the information that Clare had just shared with her.

"Well, have a pleasant evening Abelard."

"You too, Professor."

"Incidentally, the password to enter the common room, is, Fairy Lights"

"Thank you!" she said happily as she wound her way up the stairs to the common room.

She was exhausted, but sleeping was out of the question! She had been through much excitement that day, her mind traveled back tot that morning when her mother had bade farewell when the Knight Bus had had come to pick her up, to the time she had spent in Hogsmeade, to meeting the renowned Albus Dumbledore, her day had been full of dizzying excitement and fantastic experiences, unlike the magical experiences she had had in America. Still she had been painfully aware of her father's absence, on this, maybe the most important day of her life! 'He could have taken off work!' She thought bitterly.

She came to a halt in front of a plump lady dressed in pink silk.

"You're either new, or you've lost your way?"

"No, I'm new, Fairy Lights!"

"Right you are, and welcome!"

"Thanks" Clare said as the portrait swung aside to reveal a spacious and cozy looking common room. She looked at the large grandfather's clock in the corner and thought 'dinner time.' That explained why the room was deserted. She paused, recalling McGonagall's directions on how to reach the girls' dormitories. She made her way up the stairs, peering down corridors that branched off, wondering where her room would be.

"Missy Clarissa?" came a squeaky voice.

"Yes" she replied turning to see a creature only 3 feet tall, with big grey eyes and wearing a neat tea towel.

"Your room is this way, miss." he said pointing to the door behind him.

"Thank You!"

"You is too kind, bothering to thank poor Inky."

"Is that your name?… Inky?"

"Yes mistress!"

"Well, goodnight Inky" she said smiling kindly. She had only seen a few house-elves in her lifetime. They seemed some of the kindest, if not most misguided creatures in the world. The elf blinked slowly, smiled and then BANG! He had apparated out of sight, leaving Clare alone.

She entered the room and found her trunk sitting at the foot of the bed closest to the wall. She smiled, the wall had a window in it. 'Window seat' she thought recalling the trip to England via Muggle transportation on an airplane. Clare shed her sweater and her brown hair popped with static electricity.

"Ugh" she sighed as she smoothed it out looking in her hand mirror. She opened her trunk and pulled out a book to read, and then meandered back down to the Gryffindor common room.

It was not long after she had comfortably situated herself in a cozy chair by the fire that several student came through the portrait hole, chatting merrily.

Her face was hidden behind the rather large book she was perusing so they did not notice her immediately.

She lowered the book, swung her legs off of the arm of the chair and onto the floor, and rose gracefully to greet her new housemates. She smiled at the two identical ginger boys and a girl that was clearly their sister. She noticed a girl with light brown hair, another ginger, who was much more lanky that the twins, and a scrawny boy with glasses and black hair.

"Who are you?" one of the ginger boys asked bluntly.

"My name is Clarissa, Clarissa Abelard" she said offering him her hand.

"Ron Weasley" he said as he shook her hand and smiled rather foolishly. "these are my brothers…"

"Really, Ron, we try to avoid letting people know that embarrassing information."

"Embarrassing for you? Or him?" Clare said with a sly grin and a laugh.

The twins laughed.

"I'm Gred"

"and I'm Forge"

"Interesting names…" she said eyeing them with the knowledge that she was being pranked.

"They're names are actually, Fred and George, they just like to do that to people!" explained the ginger girl, who was obviously their sister. "I'm Ginny, their sister."

"I thought you might be, you look a lot alike, I mean for being different genders and all." Clare said.

"Oi! Would you mind letting me in?" came a thick Irish accent. "Oh… uh… hello" he said as he noticed Clare. "Who is she?" he whispered to the boy in glasses.

"Her name is Clarissa!"

"But you can call me Clare," she said coming forward to greet the boy with the Irish accent "most everyone does."

"I-I'm Seamus, Seamus Finnigan" he said as he took in Clare's petite form, curly short brown hair, and pretty eyes, that had flecks of green swimming in brown.

"Nice to meet you, Seamus" she said smiling "and I don't believe I've heard what your name is yet?" she said to the dark haired boy.

"I'm Harry Potter" he said dreading the gawking that he knew would come.

Clare's eyes widened in amazement, traveled up to the scar on his forehead, and then she became aware of what she was doing and apologized.

"Its alright, it happens a lot."

"I'm Hermione Granger" came the voice of the girl with brown hair. "And that is Neville Longbottom," she said pointing to a round faced boy who had just come in.

"So, where are you from?" Seamus asked.

"Amstax, it's the…"

"Western school of magic in America! I read about it in International Institutions for Magical Education. Its supposed to be the best school in either North or South America."

"It is, I loved it, its in the middle of this really nice forest, and you can see the northern lights sometimes."

"Northern Lights?" Neville said, but his question was drowned out by Ginny asking Clare…

"Why did you transfer?"

"My dad thought Hogwarts was safer than Amstax, it having Dumbledore and all, and my mum missed England."

"Well I'm sure you'll like it here" Ginny said in a reconciling tone of voice. She could somehow sense that Clare had left a great chunk of herself at her old school. Ginny hoped, as did everyone else, that Clare would learn to love life at Hogwarts, for she was very pleasant, and very pretty, and when a person has a good nature and good looks, they cant help but immediately commend themselves to those around them.


	2. Pumpkin Juice

When Clare entered the Great Hall, the following morning a buzz of curiosity arose from Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin's tables. Her breakfast was punctuated by visits from various Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs wishing to introduce themselves. By the time the owls arrived Clare had met an innumerable number of people, and everyone who was interested in the new transfer knew a little something about her, which they promptly shared with their friends.

Hildebrand, Clare's large tawny owl fluttered down beside her goblet of pumpkin juice. He was carrying a large package. She untied the package from his legs and then he gave her fingers an affectionate nibble and flew off to the owlery.

Clare opened the highly decorated box and sighed.

"Oh, mum!" she said happily as she showed the contents to her neighbors. There were dozens of candies and chocolates, all of the Muggle variety.

"Would you like some candy?" she said pushing the box towards Ron, Hermione, and Harry. "My mum sent me enough to feed a small army!"

"I'll take a Three Musketeer, if you don't mind?" Hermione said.

"Take as many as you like, I'll probably get a box just like this next week, knowing my mum!"

"Thanks"

"Do you have a Mars Bar?" Harry asked breathlessly, he had always wanted to try one.

"Yeah, here you go" she said pushing a couple Mars Bars into Harry's hands and then raised her goblet of juice to her lips.

"So the new girl has decided to buy herself friends with cheap candy her Muggle mother sent her, how pathetic" the derisive drawl was instantly recognized by the trio. "Really? I knew Gryffindor had sunk to low levels, but this is the lowest yet, first the Weasleys, now you, you must really all be ashamed of your house" he said looking at all the other Gryffindors.

Clare looked behind her at a tall and thin blonde boy with a pointed face. She fastened her eyes on him as she rose out of her chair.

"Just ignore him" Hermione said calmly.

"No. If anyone should feel they are shaming their house, it is this gentleman, though he barely merit's the title."

"What have I got to be ashamed of? I don't have a Mudblood for a father!"

It only took a split second for the goblet full of pumpkin juice to be emptied right into Draco Malfoy's face.

"NEVER CALL MY FATHER A MUDBLOOD!" Clare stormed.

Draco glared murderously at Clare, his white shirt soaked orange pumpkin juice. His two loyal companions, Crabbe and Goyle, were also splattered with the juice, they seethed as it dripped off of them.

"Good going, Clare" Fred said.

"You'll regret that, you will." Draco said threateningly.

"Not as much as you'll regret it if I ever hear you call my father a Mudblood again!"

They stared at each other for a long moment and then Draco stormed away.

"Who was that prat, anyways?" Clare asked as she casually sat back down. Everyone was staring in awe, the new Gryffindor girl had just heaved a goblet's worth of pumpkin juice right into Draco Malfoy's face!

"Oh, him, that was the world's biggest git, Draco Malfoy." Ron explained and then watched all the color fade out of Clare's face.

"Are you alright?"

"M-mm-malfoy, did you say?" she asked weakly.

"Yeah"

"Clare, what is the matter?"

"This is terrible!" Clare moaned "I might as well just Avada Kedavra myself right now and get it over with!"

"What's wrong?"

"I had no idea a relative of the Lestranges went here!" Clare continued. "If my family had known they would have never sent me here!"

"Why not? I mean Malfoy is a prat and all, but he's never really hurt someone, or anything like that, Dumbledore wouldn't let it happen" Hermione said anxiously trying to calm Clare.

"The family of Black, hates my family, Draco Malfoy no doubt knows this, and will try and find out where I live."

"Why?"

"So he can kill the last of my family, its what his family has been trying to do for the past 15 years! They all think that my mother is dead, luckily, but my father, they've been trying to get him for a long time."

"Why?"

"Its not something I like talking about" Clare said a firmness creeping over her face so that it looked like it was made of flesh colored marble instead of real skin and blood. "It had to do with blood betrayal, that's all I'll say."

"But I thought your dad was a Muggle-born?"

"I said I don't want to talk about it" her voice was icy and she quickly picked up her box of candies and left the Great Hall.

"I wonder what that is all about?" Ron asked as he ate the last of his toast.

Clare went to the owlery where she quickly sent Hildebrand with a letter for her mother.

_Dear mum,_

_Today I found out that one of my fellow students is Bellatrix Lestrange's nephew, _

_I wish to stay here, and continue going to school, but be on guard and stay safe, tell father _

_When he gets home. I'll ask Dumbledore to make sure no one gets a hold of our address,_

_Sincerely_

_With Love_

_C. R. Abelard_


	3. Confrontations

As the holidays wound to a close Clarissa found herself confronted with a problem that she could not solve. Avoiding Draco Malfoy had been easy during the Christmas Holidays, all she'd had to do was turn in the opposite direction whenever she saw him. But now, with classes starting in two days, she would have to be around him several times a week; in Potions, in Ancient Runes, and in Care of Magical Creatures.

She sat in one of the armchairs in the Gryffindor common room, gloomily mulling over the fact that she would have to be around him.

"Hey Clare, what's wrong?" Katie Bell asked.

"Oh nothing, Katie." Clare sighed, she felt like a coward for avoiding Malfoy. "Just worried about classes."

"Don't be, I'm sure you will do great!" Katie said as she encouragingly embraced Clare around her shoulders.

Clare loved her new life at Hogwarts, and all of her new friends, Katie the most though, she was so much like her best friend, Fauna, back at Amstax, except she was a little less crazy than Fauna, which was good. Clare decided that she would just ignore the fact that a close relative of Bellatrix Lestrange attended Hogwarts as well.

Her first day of classes went remarkable well, for Malfoy was in none of them.

The second day of classes started of quite well, but after lunch when she went to Care of Magical Creatures things started to degrade. She trampled by a unicorn that Crabbe had unwisely tried to capture and had bolted at her before she could dodge it. Then after the class was over she had tried to clean up and gotten separated from her fellow Gryffindors. Malfoy had covertly shot the Ink Well Hex at her and her face had been covered in ink. Clare stood immobile for a minute or so, glaring at his turned back as ink dripped off of her bright red face.

Clare looked down at her watch. She was going to be late for Potions. She attempted to clean off the ink and dirt as she ran towards the dungeons. She soon lost her sense of direction in the dungeons. She struggled to remember the directions she had been given on how to reach Professor Snape's classroom. Her mind was blank, she felt as if someone had confunded her, but that didn't make sense, a confunded person didn't know they were being confunded!

She heard a drawling voice from a few doors down, and quickly ran towards the door. She hastily opened it.

The half of the classroom that was clad in green burst into laughter, while those in scarlet stared in horror and mortification.

Clare softly shut the door behind her and turned to see Snape bearing down on her.

"What is the meaning of this, Miss Abelard?" he said in his calculating tone. "Your robes are a disgrace."

"I am here though" she said hoping that her presence might merit a bit of mercy.

"You are late" he replied flatly. "Twenty points from Gryffindor for your unkempt appearance, and another twenty for your lack of punctuality."

"What does my appearance have to do with learning potions, sir?"

A tangible silence fell over the classroom, she was daring to argue with Professor Snape?

"I was late because I got lost" she explained.

"Really, Miss Abelard, how difficult can it be to find the _dungeon, _it is usually in the lowest part of the castle is it not? Another ten points for your cheek and your insipidity."

"I didn't know which room, sir!"

"What prevented you from following your classmates?"

"I was hexed, sir!" she said her eyes locking onto Draco Malfoy for a brief moment. "Why do you think I have ink all over me?"

Snape looked mildly amused.

"Five more points for your dishonesty. Miss Parkinson informed me that you got ink on yourself by your own careless behavior. I will warn you carelessness is not something that can be allowed in the Potions classroom."

Clare glared mutinously at Severus Snape.

"I told the truth, I was hexed, and I have reason to believe that you are taking Parkinson's word over mine simply because she is in YOUR house, which is totally unfair."

"DETENTION!" Snape bellowed "I will not be spoken to thus! It is none of your concern how I make me decisions, Miss Abelard."

"It is if it makes my house lose points and lands me in detention!"

"SIT DOWN!" Snape ordered.

Her eyes narrowed as rage filled her. She sat down, not taking her eyes off of Snape's hated figure.

It was not until after she had taken out her Potions book that she bothered to see who she was sitting by. Two Slytherin girls sat to her left, across the way sat Hermione, Neville, Ron, and Harry, and behind her… behind her sat Draco Malfoy, grinning gleefully at her defeat.

Her blood froze and her heart hammered against her ribs. Her brown eyes widened in horror and she quickly turned around.

Draco's smirk faded, why was she looking at him like that, he had only hexed her? That wasn't anything to be afraid of, why did she stare at him like he had tried to kill her? He shook his pale hair out of his eyes and began pouring over his potions book.

After an interminable amount of time Potions class finally ended.

"I want a thirteen inch long essay on the properties of powdered Murtlap bones, to be handed in next Friday. Class dismissed!"

Everyone began collecting their belongings and filing out of the classroom.

"A word, Miss Abelard" Snape said walking up to the table where she was sitting.

Clare groaned as she shoved her potions book into her bag. She steeled herself against whatever Snape might have to say to her. She was not going to be bullied by her bat-like Potions Professor.

"I must inform you, Miss Abelard, that should you ever exhibit such behavior as you showed today I will find it necessary to severely reprimand you, do I make myself clear?"

"Perfectly" she replied icily.

"You are dismissed."

Clare swept out of the room, her head held high.

While Snape had been talking with Clare, Draco and some Gryffindors had gotten into a heated row.

"I don't think your new friend is going to last long. She's either going to get herself expelled or one of you Gryffindors will kill her so that you house doesn't finish with zero points this year!"

"Well, you know what, we don't care what you think, Malfoy" Hermione said flatly.

"Oh, she'll last long enough, she already has" Neville said as he boldly looked across the two feet that separated him and Draco.

"Well, if she is so great Longbottom, why is it that it takes five of you to hang around and protect her from Snape."

"Not from Snape, from you ferret-boy."

"Yeah, you and your crumby family" Harry added.

"NEVER INSULT MY FAMILY, POTTER!"

"Why bother defending them, the entire wizarding world knows they are all rotten to the core!"

""Well, Potter, at least _I've _got a family to defend!"

Harry choked on his rage, he drew his wand, Draco did likewise.

At that very moment Clare exited the classroom and found herself occupying the space right between the two wands. She stopped. She looked from Harry's angry face, to Draco's. She placed each of her hands on the boys' wands and gently forced them downward, so that their wand arms were parallel with the side of their bodies. Then she walked away without saying a word. Draco and Harry simply stared after her. Neither of them had any idea why she had broken up their fight. Clare wasn't exactly sure why she had done it either. It had just seemed the right thing to do!

Clarissa survived her detention with Professor Snape and for the next few weeks things went along remarkably well. She found her fears of losing friends over the points she had lost Gryffindor were thoroughly unfounded, in fact a great many others had lost Gryffindor house many more points than her. She was very happy to earn the points she had cost her house back though. She received points in Transfiguration, Charms, Herbology, and Care of Magical Creatures.

However, when Hagrid returned to his job of teaching Care of Magical Creatures, she found that while he was a great deal more genial than Grubbly-Plank, his teaching methods left something to be desired. She was consoled by the fact that Unicorns had remained the subject of their lessons. She loved the beautiful creatures, as did most all of her classmates, even the Slytherins!

During one of her classes she and Pansy Parkinson, found themselves brushing the coat of the same Unicorn. The two girls shared no words for several long minutes.

Then Pansy said "you missed a spot, or is that just some of the mud leaking out of you?"

Draco, who had overheard, laughed and congratulated Pansy. Pansy's face brightened with an expression of rapturous delight.

"Well at least _I _don't have to insult people to catch a guy's eye" Clare smiled slyly. "Oh, Seamus, Neville, would you two mind helping me?" she asked in a honeyed tone. Neville and Seamus ceased chasing the Unicorn foal and began to come towards where Clare was standing. "See!" Clare said.

"So you can get a half-blood and an idiot" Pansy replied viciously.

"If intelligence is important, Seamus is quite smart, and if it's pure blood that you value, Neville is a has that, so which one matters most, pick one or the other. Besides, my friends," she said waving a hand towards Seamus and Neville "have manners, unlike yours. Now go find your own Unicorn, Parkinson!"

Pansy stormed away.

"Hey Clare, what do you need?" Seamus asked.

"Proof that I could shut that Slytherin girl up" Clare muttered.

"Come again, Clare?"

"Oh, never mind. I needed an excuse to get Pansy Parkinson to go away, and you twowere struggling with your foal anyways, so I figured I'd ask you guys."

"Thanks, that foal just didn't like me, it thought Neville was okay though!"

"Yeah, it actually let me pet it!" Neville explained happily.

That evening in the common room as Clare sat down to help Neville with his Potions essay she caught sight of Ron Weasley.

"Hey Ron"

"Oh, hey Clare, you haven't seen Hermione, have you?"

"She left for the library a while ago" Clare replied, her eyes flickering to the exit.

"Thanks"

"Wait Ron, you're not going after her are you?"

"Yeah, why shouldn't I?"

"B-b-because you just shouldn't"

"Why?"

"Just don't"

"Huh?

"Hermione is in a rather solitary mood right now, so just let her have some space."

"Hermione never has solitary moods, what are you talking about?"

"You wouldn't understand"

"You're right, I don't understand" Ron said as he started towards the exit.

"Don't go Ron!"

"WHY NOT?"

"BECAUSE HERMIONE AND VIKTOR ARE IN THE LIBRARY TOGETHER!"

"That settles it, I'm going"

"Oh no you don't!" Clare shouted "_Immobulus!" _Ron froze, she had hit him with the immobilizing charm. "Now, you are going to listen to me Ron Weasley!" she said seething slightly. "You are being very selfish. Just why cant Hermione have some peace and quiet with her boyfriend, you'd want the same if you had a girlfriend? And its so rare that she actually has an opportunity to be with him, with you and Harry constantly nagging for her to do your homework." Clare's expression softened. "If you like Hermione, intruding on her and Krum is not the way to win her heart from the Quidditch star." Ron opened and closed his mouth several times in total shock. "but if you don't have feelings for her in a romantic way, then let her and Viktor be! Its none of your business who she goes out with, unless of course you _do like her, then its very much your business." Clare smiled in a kind and matriarchal way and then lifted the curse. "Now what subject is it that you need help with?"_

"_Potions" Ron replied quietly. He was still in shock about being cursed and yelled at by Clare._

"_Come over here with Neville, and I'll help you both together."_

_A while later Dean called for Clare to come and talk to him. She gracefully crossed the room._

"_Yes, Dean?"_

"_Thanks, I've been dying to say something like that to him since the Yule Ball!" He said with a laugh._

"_Yes, I am under the impression that that is when our brother's taste in Quidditch players took a most dramatic turn" George said in a rather philosophical sounding tone._

"_Do you really think he fancies Granger?" Fred asked eagerly._

"_I don't know" Clare said eyeing the twins apprehensively. "but if he does, I don't think he knows it yet" she added smiling._

_Both of the twins burst out laughing, and Clare returned to the table where Neville and Ron were writing their essays._


	4. The Tournament's Second Task

Clare got up early on the morning of the second task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Having transferred right after Christmas, she had missed the first task and was anxious not to miss any part of the second. She hoped to see Harry and wish him luck with his task, but no one had seen him, or Ron, or Hermione! She shrugged this off as the trio simply having a little time by themselves to consult and advise Harry.

"Do you know where Harry is?" Katie asked as Clare sat down in the space between her and Alicia.

"No, you?"

"I haven't seen him since lunch yesterday!"

"Maybe he's too nervous for breakfast" Clare said absently.

"Or _maybe he's decided to drop out of the tournament so as not to embarrass himself anymore!" The easy drawl was all too familiar._

"_Who asked your opinion, Malfoy?" Katie said as she watched Clare's eyes widen at the sight of him and heard her choke on her pumpkin juice._

_He turned away, contemptuously looking down his pointed nose at Clare and Katie._

"_He is soo obnoxious!"_

"_Thanks, Katie."_

"_No problem, I know you'd say the same things if you didn't want to cross him 'cause of his family."_

_Clare sighed, was that really why she avoided him, or was it more for her own safety than that of her mother and father. She didn't know the answer, so she forgot about it and immersed herself in Katie and Alicia's discussion of the things that the second task might potentially be._

"_Do you want to get ready with us, Clare?" Katie asked._

"_Sure, I've got some really nice ribbons, we could do each other's hair if we have enough time."_

"_I think we will, come on!"_

_Alicia, Katie, Clare, and Angelina all left the Great Hall together and rushed up to Gryffindor Tower to do some final touch-ups on their appearances. Not everyday was the day of a Tri-Wizard Tournament task!_

_The girls did each other's hair, tying it up in pretty ribbons of gold and scarlet. Then together they trouped out into the chilly morning air. Half way to the lake they saw a blur run past that they scarcely had time to recognize as Harry._

"_GOOD LUCK HARRY!" they all shouted._

_He whipped his head around to see who had wished him luck, and waved, while running at breakneck speed._

_The four girls climbed into the stands and sat down in front of Ginny, Dean, Fred and George._

"_You haven't seen our brother, have you?"_

"_He's there" Angelina said pointing to Percy who was sitting with the judges._

"_Not that one, Ron!"_

"_Oh, no, I havent seen Ron since yesterday."_

_George raised his eyebrows and then fell into a discussion with Fred about a good way to get enough money to start their joke shop. Then they all turned their attention to where the champions were standing._

"_Well, all our champions are ready for the second task" Bagman said after magically enhancing his voice "which will start on my whistle. They have precisely one hour to recover what has been taken from them. On the count of three, then" the entire crowd held its breath. "One… two… THREE!"_

_The whistle echoed through the air, and the four champions began to make their way into the lake."_

"_What's he doing?" Katie asked as she saw Harry stand there and stuff something into his mouth._

"_I don't know" Clare said looking through her omnioculars. "Wait! He's got gills!"_

"_What?" the twins said as the each reached for Clare's omnioculars._

"_Really?" Katie asked excitedly._

"_Yeah" Clare said as she handed the omnioculars to her friend._

"_He does" Katie exclaimed seconds before Harry submerged._

_After all the champions had gone under water, Fleur and Cedric with Bubble Charms, and Krum after doing a partial transfiguration, a dense cacophony of chatter rose up from the crowds._

_Clare and Katie got caught up with discussing their favorite animals, at which point the twins decided to impersonate the sounds of said animals and gradually the entire cluster of Gryffindors found themselves making animal noises. They were all laughing (and continuing to make only roughly distinguishable animal sounds) when Angelina cried out "Look! Its Cedric!"Everyone fell silent and turned to watch Cedric carry Cho out of the lake and be tended to by Madam Pomfrey._

"_They've got people down there!" Ginny said in astonishment!_

"_I guess so" George said._

"_Well that explains where our brother is, doesn't it?"_

"_And Hermione" Clare added._

"_What?"_

"_She's Krum's girlfriend just like Cho is Cedric's."_

"_Oh, right"_

"_I wonder who the French girl has to rescue?"_

_Just then Fleur broke the surface gasping with cuts all over her face._

"_I wonder what got to her?"_

"_Probably the Grindylows, Professor Snape mentioned that there are some grindylows living in the Great Lake" Alicia provided._

_A couple more minutes passed and the sound of the crowd began to rise once more as people resumed their conversations. Then Ginny shouted: "Its Krum!"_

_Everyone's attention turned towards the lake as Viktor Krum came out, transforming back into a person and helping Hermione out of the water._

"_Come on Harry!" the Gryffindors pleaded._

_Silence fell over the stadium. All that could be heard was the jeering of the Slytherins as they made snide remarks about Harry. Several minutes passed._

"_THERE HE IS! THERE'S HARRY!" Clare said ecstatically as the entire house of Gryffindor got to it's feet and began cheering for Harry and his bravery. For by now everyone had realized he not only had rescued Ron, but also Fleur's little sister._

"_He's got to get extra points for bringing two hostages" Neville said._

_Everyone concurred._

"_Ladies and gentlemen" Ludo Bagman's cheery voice boomed. "We have reached our decision. Merchieftainess Murcus has told us exactly what happened at the bottom of the lake, and we therefore decided to award marks out of fifty for each of the champions!" An anxious silence fell over the crowd. "As follows; Fleur Delacour" Bagman explained her successes and errors and then said "We award her twenty-five points."_

_Everyone politely applauded. She looked like she could use some cheering up so Clare gave a hearty cheer and clapped loudly. Fleur's usually impeccable appearance was severely marred by all the cuts on her face and robes._

"_Cedric Diggory, who also used the Bubble-Head Charm was first to return with his hostage, though he returned one minute outside the time limit. We award him forty-five points" The Gryffindors gave some half-hearted polite cheers for Cedric._

"_Viktor Krum used an incomplete form of Transfiguration"_

"_You think?" Seamus said laughing._

"… _and was second to return with his hostage. We award him forty points."_

_Clare looked at Seamus, he wasn't clapping, so she didn't either, even though she knew from Hermione that Krum was a nice enough guy._

"_Harry Potter" Bagman began and everyone fell silent "used gillyweed to great effect. He returned last and well outside the time limit."_

_Clare groaned, it certainly did not look good for Harry. _

"_However, the Merchieftainess inform us that Mr Potter was first to reach the hostages."_

_Cheers broke out from all over the stands, every Gryffindor was applauding. Bagman signaled for silence. "Mr. Potter's score is forty-five."_

_All of Gryffindor house erupted with cheers, shouts, and whistles for their champion. Clare was hoarse, along with most of the Gryffindors, when they trouped in to the Great Hall for lunch that day. They invented chants to honor Harry and they tried to carry him into the Great Hall on their shoulders but he would not let them._


	5. Friends after the Fight

Clare got out of her chair and decided to take a walk in the chilly courtyard, it was mid-March but it still persisted in snowing. Clare couldn't take being cooped up, the common room was stuffy with warmth from the fire. She donned her scarf and stocking cap and headed outside.

It was snowing lightly and a thin sheet of ice covered the stone paving outside. She walked around, hugging herself to try and keep warm, passing a few other bold souls braving the climate. She felt an ice cold ball of snow hit her on the back of her head. She whirled around, falling to the ground, only to see Fred laughing hysterically, he came over to her, accompanied as always by his twin.

"Hey"

"Hey" she said climbing to her feet and rubbing her backside.

"Sorry about that"

"Need any help" George said with a wink.

She glared good-naturedly at the two of them.

"No!" she laughed and each twin took an arm and escorted her around like she was a prize trophy. They laughed and joked and fell into a full out snowball brawl. Soon everyone joined, even Cedric and Cho. There was something addictive and infectious about the twins, no one could resist them and taking part in their antics. A blonde haired girl from Ravenclaw stood on the sidelines watching with a bemused expression on her face. Justin and Ernie from Hufflepuff came over and chucked snowballs at Clare until she noticed them, and began throwing snowballs back!

After a good long fight, they all scattered and Justin had a small chat with Cedric Diggory and then squared his shoulders and followed after Clarissa.

"Hey" he said shyly.

"Oh, hello"

"Hey, um, I heard that you are good with Runes"

"Well I'm okay, Hermione is better." She replied nonchalantly.

Justin looked confused for a moment and then fell back, blushing furiously and not quite sure what to do.

"I believe that that boy likes you"

It was the blonde girl who had been watching the snowball fight.

"Come again?"

"That boy, I think his name is Justin, he likes you."

"And you know this how?" Clare queried

"I could just tell, I'm Luna by the way"

"Hi" she said not quite sure what to make of Luna. "I'm Clare."

"I know, you're friends with the twins, and Katie."

"That's right" Clare said happily. "You're in Ravenclaw?"

"Yes" she said airily.

"That's cool, so if he likes me what am I supposed to do?"

"Oh… I don't know, no one has ever asked me for advice on boys before."

Clare nodded and looked over her shoulder at Justin. He was talking to Ernie and Cedric, while Cho stood at a little distance smiling politely. She knitted her brows. She didn't know him, but he was handsome, and he seemed nice. She turned around and saw Seamus Finnigan walking towards her. She shook her head. 'Why were there so many good looking boys at Hogwarts?'

Justin was by her again, this time Cedric was standing behind him.

"Hey, you're the new girl from Gryffindor" Cedric said amicably. "This is my girlfriend Cho, and my friend Justin, he's your age, I think."

Clare smiled, Justin flushed, and Cedric and Cho smiled at each other.

"Nice to meet you all" Clare replied.

Clare talked happily with the two Ravenclaw girls and the two Hufflepuff boys. The first people she could call more than acquaintances that weren't from her own house.


	6. Detention & Death Eaters

It was later in March and Clare was headed off to her second detention of the year, with Snape. Filch had caught her using magic in the halls, against Pansy Parkinson no less. Filch was too busy to oversee her detention himself, or so he said. Clare smiled to herself, at least she had managed to put a few nice healthy boils on Pansy before being caught. She had brought up her muggle heritage just once too often, needless to say her house mates rather idolized her now.

She dolefully made her way down to Snape's office. Gloomy thoughts dominated her mind as she trudged down the final flight of stairs.

She knocked lightly on Snape's door.

"Come in" came the low voice of Severus Snape.

She silently entered the room and noiselessly shut the door behind her.

Professor Snape was sitting at his desk examining various papers. The curtain-like appearance of his hair was made even more noticeable by this position.

"Well" he said, "Are you going to come in or must I drag you?"

"Sir?"

Snape looked up, surprised to find Clare standing only six feet away.

"I didn't hear you enter" he mumbled half to himself.

He collected his papers and set them down, rising from his seat. Clare involuntarily quivered as he scrutinized her over his hawkish nose. She was not afraid of him, just of what unpleasant form of punishment his cunning Slytherin mind had come up with, and also his appearance was generally intimidating.

"Come with me" he said as he swept towards the door, signaling for her to follow with a curt hand gesture. She obediently followed, dread growing with every step. They went up sever flights of stairs and into a musty class room, long unused. Cobwebs hung in clusters everywhere and the dust was over an inch thick on the old desks that were collected in the room.

"Filch has neglected to clean this room for some time as you can see. It is your duty to clean it now, from top to bottom, without magic" he said the last two words with special emphasis.

"Really? Cleaning without magic."

'I guess he didn't have any flobberworm mucus for me to bottle' she thought to herself, but her thoughts were heard by the Legilimen as clearly as if she had spoken them aloud.

Snape waved his wand and cleaning supplies appeared out of nowhere. He settled the supplies atop a table next to Clare and a great cloud of dust rose upwards. Clare coughed. She quickly cleaned the dust off that table and then unfastened her cloak and put it down on the table.

"Your wand, Miss Abelard" Snape demanded as he noticed it poking out of her back pocket. She reluctantly handed it to him. She fell to her work with gusto. She began by removing the cobwebs with the broom. Snape watched her work. He was bothered by the fact that the punishment he had appointed to her didn't seem to be phasing her in the slightest. She did not find the work humiliating or degrading at all.

He magicked a chair clean and settled himself in it. A half hour later a rustling noise caught both of their attentions.

"Professor Snape" Clare said wiping her hands on the front of her pants.

"Yes, Miss Abelard?"

"I believe that there is a Boggart in that chest over there."

"Well I would hope that even someone with your limited mental faculties could deduce that."

Clare bit her lip and continued.

"Well, professor, wouldn't you consider Boggart removal a part of cleaning?"

"Do you even have magical ability enough to remove one?"

"Sir" she said in a biting tone, "I have known how to eradicate Boggarts since my second year."

"Then by all means remove it," her intolerable Gryffindor overconfidence irked him.

"I cant" she said in exasperation.

"I thought you said…"

"You have my wand, sir!"

Snape frowned to himself and then handed Clare her wand. She tentatively approached the rattling chest. She vaguely wondered if her worst fear was what it had been two years before. She lifted the lid off of the chest and then quickly stepped back.

From the depth of the wooden chest arose a magnificently terrifying figure. Her boggart WAS the same. A tall woman stepped out from the box. She had long curls of black hair, she wore a gleeful manic look on her face, and her wand was pointed at Clare.

"Bellatrix!" she said in a hushed tone of horror.

"Bellatrix" Snape exclaimed in astonishment.

The boggart turned to him and then Bellatrix transformed into a skull with a large serpent for a tongue. It glared and hissed as it approached Professor Snape.

"No!" he protested, "It cant be. I wont" Snape said moving away from the boggart as he clutched his left arm.

The snake in the dark mark boggart opened its mouth and stuck out its forked tongue. Snape was paralyzed with dread, but Clare, forgetting all rationality and common sense, and even her own abilities as a witch charged towards the terrifying version and struck the Boggart Dark Mark full in the mouth.

She let out a piercing scream and fell. Her arm felt as if it had been turned into solid ice. Clare writhed on the floor as the boggart transformed back into Bellatrix Lestrange. She feebly lifted her wand and shouted "Ridikulous!"

Bellatrix's Death Eater robes turned into a shockingly pink frilly dress and instead of a hood she wore a large basket of fruit on her head. Clare laughed despite the iciness that was spreading throughout her entire body. There was a pop and the boggart vanished.

Clare felt as if she was turning to frozen stone. She made a choking noise and began to grow still.

"That was an extremely foolish thing to do" Snape said as he recovered his composure and knelt down on the stone floor, summoning a phial of potion out of thin air. "Here, drink this."

Clare blinked slowly and tried to lift her hand but it felt like it was glued to the floor. He scowled and then reluctantly, as if she might carry an infectious disease, he lifted her head so that it was at a comfortable angle for her to drink. He poured some of the elixir into her mouth.

She swallowed the silvery liquid with great effort and felt warmth course through her as her limbs slowly became functional once more. She wheezed slightly as she forced into a sitting position.

"Thanks, Professor, sir" she said coughing. The potion had left her throat oddly dry.

"I guess what I did was pretty stupid, going at it like that."

Snape's usually somber expression lightened slightly as he looked at the reckless but courageous and kind girl sitting on the floor.

"You conducted yourself as only a member of your house would… foolishly, but also bravely. Fifteen points to Gryffindor."

Clare's jaw fell. Three months of being around Snape had been enough to know that Snape awarding points to Gryffindor was as likely as seeing a dancing dementor.

She got to her feet.

"Do you feel alright?" he asked stiffly.

"I'm fine" she said weakly.

"Taking what you have just experienced into consideration, I believe I will allow you to finish your detention with the aid of your wand."

"Thank you sir, but…" her face flushed crimson.

"But what?"

"I-I, I don't know how to clean with magic, sir."

Snape sighed in exasperation.

"You can banish boggarts, but you only know how to clean like a muggle?"

"My mother did the cleaning at home, and my mum is a muggle."

"Very well, I will attempt to teach you a few basic spells for cleaning."

"Really? Thank you so much, Professor Snape."

She smiled exuberantly.

As Snape taught her some charms for cleaning he was struck by the thought that she didn't seem as arrogant as her peers in Gryffindor. She was an attentive and receptive student. Then another, far more disturbing thought came to him… had she seen the significance of his boggart's form. He looked over at her, she didn't seem to have realized what it meant, at least she hadn't linked it to him having been a Death Eater, that was what mattered.

"Miss Abelard, could you satisfy my curiosity on the topic of your boggarts form?"

"What is it exactly that you want to know?"

"Why is Bellatrix Lestrange your boggart? She was put away in Azkaban when you were a small child."

"The didn't put her away before she and her relatives annihilated my family!" Clare said bitterly.

Some silence ensued.

"Miss Abelard, I would appreciate it if you did not speak about my boggart and its form to anyone else, will you do this,"

"I do not know why you wish to be secretive, but if that is your wish, who am I to go around gossiping about another person's boggart. They are a rather personal sort of thing."

Snape nodded his appreciation and then continued instructing Clare on cleaning charms.

Clare fastidiously worked for several more minutes and then turned to Snape, awaiting his verdict on her cleaning.

"You did quite well, you may go."

"Goodnight Professor Snape."

"Goodnight" he said rather more tersely than he intended to.

After she left Snape reflected on how he had miscalculated her character. He locked the door to the classroom and then returned to his office.

Roughly a half hour later, at ten o'clock, a light knock came on his door.

"Come in" he said curtly.

Clare entered, forgetting to shut the door behind her.

"What is it that you need of me, Miss Abelard?"

"I forgot my cloak in the classroom."

"And what would you be needing your cloak for at this hour of night?"

"Astronomy, sir. Professor Sinastra was going to let me catch up on what I missed earlier tonight, because of detention."

"Oh, very well, why don't you just unlock the door yourself? Or is that yet another common spell that I must teach you."

"No, I know 'alohomora' I just wanted your permission to unlock the classroom."

"You have it, now go!"

"Alright, thank you, goodnight again, sir."

"Goodnight Miss Abelard."

As she climbed the stairs that lead to the levels above the dungeons a pair of steely eyes watched her ascent. He followed her up the stairs, silently accompanying her to the abandoned classroom.

"Alohomora" she said softly and the door unlocked with a small click. She went into the room and picked up her cloak, still not noticing the boy standing outside the door. She turned and gasped as she caught sight of the tall lean form of Draco Malfoy. She saw his pale face in the light of the torches that hung in the hall.

Clare's eyes flickered around the room, there was no other exit than the one that Draco guarded.

"Good evening" he drawled, casually leaning against the door frame.

"Flipendo!" Clare shouted, pointing her wand at Draco and then bursting into a run before he could recover from being knocked off of his feet. She ran all the way to Gryffindor Tower.


	7. Turning Corners

_I apologize if Dumbledore seems out of character, I really struggled with how he would treat a student that wasn't Harry. You only ever really see him interacting one-on-one with Harry which makes it difficult, I hope I did ok_

_I am also sorry this chapter is so short, its just if I combined it with the next one it would be far too long, and I like how this one ends leaving you guys in suspense (at least I hope that's how it left you)_

It had been a month since Clare's interesting detention with Professor Snape. Clare had found herself the idyll of several boys ranging from Ravenclaw to her own house, no Slytherins though, as far as she knew. Chief among her admirers were Justin Finch-Fletchley and Seamus Finnigan. According to Luna Lovegood however, there were some truly ardent admirers of Clare in Ravenclaw, but Clare was unsure what do about them, or any of them for that matter. She liked Seamus, and Justin too, but she wasn't sure how she liked them. None of them had asked her out, for which she was somewhat grateful, she didn't want to offend her guy friends who fancied her by choosing one above them all, but on the other hand it was mildly frustrating thinking that a guy liked you, but not being absolutely certain, because he had not asked you out.

One morning she got out of bed quite early. She had been plagued by harassing dreams of Draco. He had had her at wand point, just like in all the other dreams. She sighed as she began aimlessly wandering the halls.

She ambled down the second floor corridor, lost in thought and sleepily turned the corner at the end of the hallway. She collided with the last person alive that she wanted to see at that moment, or any other, Draco Malfoy.

"Watch where you're going Abelard, I don't want to have to wash the mud off of my robes."

She picked herself up off the floor, bristling with rage.

"I-I… I'd rather…" but the malediction was never finished. She couldn't bear the cold heartless looking grey eyes that were boring through her. She turned and she ran, like a frightened doe she fled down the corridor. Leaving a befuddled and bemused Draco behind. He did not understand her. He watched her run, his thoughts muddled by the cobwebs of sleep that still lingered in his mind.

Clare did not slow down, she was running from herself as much as Draco (who was not even pursuing her). Hot tears of shame spilled down her face. She was supposed to be brave, she was a Gryffindor, and she had ran like a coward. She turned a corner and skidded to a halt in front of her Headmaster.

"Good morning, Miss Clare, I see you're up quite early, enjoying the… oh dear." Dumbledore, who had had troubled sleep as well, had just noticed Clare's tear streaked face. "What is the matter? Are you alright Clare?"

"Yes, I'm fine" she said hastily dabbing her eyes on her robes.

"It is my opinion that when people say they are fine, they are usually as far from it as possible" he said handing her a sky blue handkerchief. "May I be of any assistance to you in alleviating in your distress, Miss Clare?" He asked as she wiped her eyes.

"No. Yes. I don't know."

"Well, seeing as you're uncertain, if you told me the cause of your vexation I might be able to tell you myself."

They stood in silence for a moment. Clare felt very comforted by Dumbledore's pressence and she slowly lifted her eye from the floor to his face.

"Sir" she began, "is the sorting hat ever wrong?"

He chuckled ever so softly.

"There always seems to be a couple students each year with that exact same question for me." He smiled. "I wont say that its never wrong, it has made some mistakes from time to time, but in your specific case Clare, it could have done no better. But why, may I ask, do you feel that you do not belong in Gryffindor?"

"I'm a coward" she said hanging her head.

"You are no coward, and I am surprised that you would say that. What prompted you to ever think such a thing of yourself?"

"I ran!" she said, like an animal in pain, "I ran."

"From what?"

"Malfoy."

"Oh…" Dumbledore said thoughtfully, "I see. Has it ever occurred to you that maybe young Mr. Malfoy is unaware of the fatal feud between your family and his?"

"No, but how could he not be, his father is a Death Eater, and his mother's sister is the one who is responsible for most of the deaths, how could he not know?"

"Trust me, not only is it possible, but also very probable. Having spent seven years with Narcissa Malfoy as a student at this school I believe I know enough of her to say that she would not tell her son of his aunt's atrocities, or any family feuds for that matter."

"But…"

"Tell me this Clare, has he ever threatened you?"

"Yes, but I suppose I brought it upon myself, I threw pumpkin juice in his face."

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. "He called my father a mudblood" she added to reassure him that it had not been an unwarranted attack.

"Yes, that is a rather bad habit of his, one that sadly he picked up from his father." Dumbledore smiled benevolently. "I do not believe you have anything to fear from Draco Malfoy. He may have many distasteful attributes but I don't think 'murderer' is one of them." Clare looked up at Dumbledore's face and immediately felt comforted on the topic of Draco Malfoy, she somehow knew that her bad dreams that featured him would be coming to an end now. He didn't believe Draco to be a threat, and that was good enough for her. "You are no coward" he stated soberly. His words fit the thoughts in her head so perfectly that for a moment she wondered if he had used Legilimency on her. "You are very bold and strong, the hat did very well with you. I believe it may have even chose you for a special purpose in Gryffindor."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean you are kind, courageous, and open-minded, not a common combination. To what use do you think the hat might have intended you put yourself to?"

She was silent for a while, the idea of being put into Gryffindor to carry out a special task was foreign to her.

"I honestly don't know, sir" she replied after some thought.

"This is strictly my opinion Miss Abelard, but I believe that you were put in Gryffindor over the other houses because for more years than I care to tell you, there hasn't been a Gryffindor who overlooked the difference between Crimson and Green. No one in many years has been 'courageous' enough to extend their 'kindness' to the house of Slytherin. They have been outcasts for far too long, it would make me proud to see someone from my house ford the breech between Slytherin and the other houses of Hogwarts."

Clare was silent for a long time. It was a quest that would involve risk, quite a lot of risk, but if she were to succeed she would feel that she had achieved something very unique, something that even Harry Potter had never even attempted.

"Do you think that they will actually be friends with a Gryffindor?"

"Well, there is only one way to find out…" he said with a twinkle in his keen blue eyes. "Have a pleasant day Miss Abelard" he said after a pause.

"You too, Professor" she said happily, and she turned and went off to the Great Hall for breakfast.

She was quiet during breakfast as strategies for tackling her task flitted in and out of her head. She was surprised by how much her own house was responsible for the isolation of Slytherin House. It was mind boggling. She was going to change it all, she would show that bravery went much deeper than just fighting valiantly in battle, it took loads of boldness and bravery to confront your own shortcomings and mend them.

Throughout the next few weeks Clare plotted her course. She observed the Slytherins more closely and tried to ascertain which ones might be easiest to approach in friendship. Blaise Zabini and the Greengrass girls seemed the most likely candidates. By early May her plans had taken full form in her head and all that remained was to put them into action, but things don't always go according to plan.


	8. Unexpected and Uncommon

"You're an evil git Malfoy, almost as evil as your parents."

"Well at least _I _have parents, Potter!" Draco retorted shaking with rage.

Clare watched as Harry lunged at Draco, she threw herself between the two of them, a firm hand pushing each of them on the chest and away from each other.

"Listen! Both of you!" she shouted to a stunned Draco and Harry. "In the name of all the founders will the two of you stop fighting? Every time I turn around you two are going at each other!"

Draco looked from the hand that held him from charging at Harry, to the face of the person it belonged to, to Harry's face, and then repeated this routine out of bewilderment. Was this really the same girl who only a month ago had bolted at the mere sight of him?

"You" she said to Harry "stop provoking him!"

"But I-…"

"And don't answer in kind either!" she said cutting him off before he could offer any excuses. "And you," she said rounding on Malfoy, "stop starting it. Just because you're jealous doesn't mean you have to be an argumentative, snobby, prat! So what if Harry is more popular than you, it doesn't seem to be bothering the rest of us that much" she said waving her hand to indicate the crowd of students that had gathered around them. Nothing entitles you to be vicious towards him, or his friends or to cruelly mention his lack of family" she added the last one without thinking. "I really think that half of your jealousy stems from the fact that you're not sure if your mother and father would selflessly lay down their lives to try and save yours" her voice slowly decreased in volume and pitch until it was actually quite gentle sounding. "The other part of your insatiable envy of Harry is because he has friends, lots of them, and you don't have any, you have people who have latched onto you because of your family's wealth, power, position, and name, and even if you did have friends you would be too blinded by your enormous pride to ever see them!" She looked straight up into his astonished face, "I pity you" she said with genuine sadness, "to not have people with whom you can share the trials and joys of life, who you know will constantly look out for you and take care of you. Your life must be very lonely and sad, Draco Malfoy" she said softly and then turned and sighed.

"Abelard" he shouted preparing to say the worst thing he could think of to pay her back for her far too accurate portrait of his life.

"What?"

"You…" the words failed him, he could not think of anything harsh enough for her. His face turned red with frustration and fury.

"You know what you need, Malfoy?" she said coolly.

"Noth-" but the word never left his lips for Clare had flung her book bag aside upon finishing her question and then thrown her arms around the completely confounded Slytherin boy. He held his arms out from himself rigidly as his mind seemed to freeze with total shock. His stunned expression caused the students that had been observing the confrontation much laughter.

"Now we know what his boggart is" Katie said "hugs."

This caused even more laughter.

"Ten points to Gryffindor" McGonagall's crisp voice stated, "For being open-minded and unexpected." A small smile danced around the corners of Minerva McGonagall's lips.

"I doubt he's looked that stunned since you punched him last year" Ron said to Hermione as Clare began gathering up her spilt books.

"Except for when Moody made him a ferret" Harry added.

"Right" he concurred while laughing at the memory.

Clare shouldered her bag and then joined the trio.

"Hey Clare, don't get too close, Malfoy might rub off on me" Harry said teasingly.

"HARRY POTTER! That is exactly what your problem is, you can't see past his name and house. These immature squabbles of yours are just as much your fault as his! I swear, you're just as narrow-minded and bigoted as he is! You complain that he treats others with disdain because he thinks he is better than them, but are you any better? You treat him the same way he treats you, you are both wrong! Neither of you can see past house divisions, Slytherins are not so very different from us, or Hufflepuff, or Ravenclaw, we're all human!" she said in exasperation. Harry just stared at her, his green eyes wide with surprise.

"Twenty more points to Gryffindor for Miss Abelard's ability to see fault in her own house as well as her rival house" a cool voice stated.

The entire hall became so silent that everyone could hear each other's breathing, and Filch pacing the hall two floors above. McGonagall actually dropped her wand in amazement as she stared at Severus Snape as if she had never met him before.

Clare spent the rest of the day brooding in silence in the common room over her school books. No one wanted to disturb her and cause her to rail at them so the silence became mutual until Harry walked in and saw her leaned up with a book sitting in the windowsill.

"I still can't believe Snape gave Gryffindor points!" Oliver Wood exclaimed as he came into the Common Room with Katie, Harry, and the Twins.

"Yeah, thanks Clare!" Harry called out, trying to break the silence that had occurred in the wake of their spat that morning.

"He's right you know."

"Who?"

"Professor Snape, we should do some serious introspection on how we treat the other houses, Slytherin in particular. I have been doing some, and I don't like what I've found. We treat them poorly to say the least."

"Well it's not like they're all warm and friendly," George said.

"That's not the point. The point is that we should try and set an example and not stoop to their level, and maybe some of them will respect us for it and we can be friends with them just like we are with Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff."

They all shook their heads, rolled their eyes, or lifted half of their mouth and raised their eyebrow in expressions of incredulity.

"Hey, Clare, want to go to supper?" Katie asked trying to change the topic.

Clare eyed her knowing full well what she was trying to do. She accepted the offer, but it was followed by an enormous sigh of frustration.

The next week in Potions class, Professor Snape decided to appoint partners to separate Harry, Ron, and Hermione in the hope of removing the two boys from the brains of their trio and therefore showing them to be the lackluster potioneers that they were.

At the end of his sorting Draco and Clare were left to form the last pair of partners. They both scrutinized each other for a moment and then converged on the last free table.

A more silent pair could not be found in the entire room. Hermione and Blaise were arguing as to the proper way to cut Screechsnap leaves. Harry was repeating Snape's instruction to Crabbe in a slow voice, trying to make him understand. Pansy was screeching at Neville for getting some of their potion on her robes, and Goyle and Seamus had already managed to explode their cauldron. The screaming potion seeped across the floor towards Clare and Draco's table. She silently climbed atop the bench that was connected to the table while the other people in the potions path either fled or succumbed to the effects of the potion and began screaming hysterically. From atop her perch she peeled the roots and then kneeling on the bench began to slice the various ingredients that comprised the first half of the ingredients while Draco worked on the second half.

Professor Snape quickly remedied the leaking potion problem and restored those affected by it back to their normal state. Then he rounded on Seamus and railed at him and took thirty points from Gryffindor.

Clare and Draco exchanged no unnecessary words and were therefore first to finish.

"Excellent" Snape said as he looked at Draco but his eyes flickered towards Clare several times, "this is precisely the greenish hue that this potion is supposed to be, unlike that murky mud color of yours Mr. Potter! Well done Malfoy." Clare glared mutinously at Professor Snape. "And you too Miss Abelard, though I suspect your potions skills owe their improvement to your exemplary partner. You are both dismissed as soon as your table is clear."

"Sir?"

"Yes?"

"May I magically clean the table?" Clare asked eagerly.

"If you must" Snape said slightly exasperated.

Before Draco could even register what was happening Clare had summoned the dustbin and deposited the refuse into it. He raised an eyebrow in critical appreciation of her work. While she was occupied with clearing the table. Draco flicked his wand under the table and a huge rip appeared in Clare's book bag, and the contents spilled out onto the floor as soon as she picked it up. As she scrambled to pick up her things he dashed out a note and then handed her one of her fallen books. He left the room without a backward glance, but Clare stared in bewilderment at his retreating figure. She looked at the book in her hands; a piece of paper was sticking out of it. Compelled by curiosity she opened it.

A meticulously neat and flowing script greeted her eyes.

'_Meet me in the abandoned classroom where you ran from me, tomorrow at seven, please._

_~D.M. '_

Clare skeptically scanned the short letter one more time and then stuffed it into her pocket and left the classroom clutching her bag to keep it together. Were her fears about Draco Malfoy right? Had Dumbledore been wrong? Why did he want to meet her in private?

She read the letter again as she walked up the stairs to Gryffindor Tower. He had said please. He had also mentioned her moment of cowardly weakness. Half of her felt compelled to go to the meeting to discover whether Draco was actually a kinder person than she had suspected, but then what purpose would he have in asking to meet her alone? While the other half was compelled to attend this rendezvous to prove to him that she was no coward and that she could stand boldly in front of him, staring death straight in the eye.

As she lay on her bed the same questions and the same thought plagued her through the night. Sleep eluded her for many hours and when at last it came it presented her with a strange and disturbing dream.

_She saw herself, clothed in fine emerald velvet walking down a long row of bodies. At first she did not recognize the faces of the fallen but the further she walked the more familiar faces she saw. She caught sight of Colin Creevey's corpse, lying right next to the bulky form of Professor Moody, who, for some inexplicable reason_, _appeared twice. She saw Bellatrix's body and her heart leaped with relief then she saw the final two bodies and could not contain herself._

She awoke gasping on the scream that had just left her lips in her dream. Lavender mumbled something in her sleep and then turned over. Clare sat silently on her bed. It suddenly occurred to her that yesterday's potion had required ground moonstone, or "prophesying powder" as the diviners called it.

She threw back the curtains that hung around her bed and saw that it was mid-morning. The din from the Common room below could be heard from her bed and it soothed her a little. She went downstairs in her pajamas, it _was_ Saturday after all!

Though she hadn't realized it Clare had actually cried during her dream, for her cheeks were still moist with her tears. As she reached the bottom of the stairs she saw one of the final corpses from her dream leaning against the banister, chatting with his twin.

"FRED!" she said launching herself at him, hugging him with all her might.

"What's this, I don't even get so much as a good morning?" George jested.

"You're alive!" she exclaimed.

"Why yes, now that you mention it I am" Fred said laughing as he good-naturedly shook Clare by the shoulders and patted her back.

"I'm such a sook, getting all emotional over some silly dream" she said wiping her eyes on the sleeves of her pajamas. "Next thing you know I'll be taking _everything _seriously, like Trelawney!"

"Just as long as you don't start wearing those ridiculous glasses and predicting my death like she does Harry's."

Clare winced at Fred's mention of death predictions.

"To satisfy our curiosity just what did happen in your dream?" George asked with a laugh while a bit of genuine concern showed around his eyes as he looked at Clare and then at his brother.

"I saw a bunch of dead people. I knew some of them, some of them I didn't. Yours was one of the last bodies I saw before I woke up" her voice cracked and more tears trickled down her face.

"Its alright, I'm not dead" Fred said putting an arm around her shoulders.

Clare looked up at him and then threw an arm around each of the twins' necks. They smiled mischievously at each other.

"She should have dreams like this more often, don't you think so George?"

"Yeah, maybe she'll see me dead next" he said in jest and the two boys laughed at each other and then smiled at Clare. She couldn't help but laugh too!

She loved the twins, but then again who didn't, they were universally admired. Katie, Luna, Susan, and the Twins were her best friends. She loved them all, but none of the others could make her laugh, or forget her troubles quite like Fred and George.

The drama of the morning drove all thoughts of her meeting with Draco out of Clare's head.

It wasn't until ten minute 'til seven o'clock that she remembered.

She furtively exited the Gryffindor Common Room, and made her way to the abandoned classroom. She slowed her pace as she neared her destination. She was in no hurry to face a duel with a wizard who was in all likelihood her superior. She reached for the door handle and then steeling herself turned the knob and strode in.

She blinked in the inky darkness as her eyes adjusted to the lack of light.

"_Lumos_" spoke a soft drawl and light appeared just in front of Draco Malfoy's face. "Better?" he asked almost shyly.

"Yeah, thanks" she said, the awkwardness she felt leaking into her tone.

She looked at Draco's features in the dim light of his wand. She realized with a small start that she had never really looked at him before. He was not half as hideous as she saw him in her head. In fact he was rather handsome.

He was casually sitting on one of the tables, looking slightly bewildered but still exuding excessive confidence. He was both relaxed and regal, though the concern that darted through his grey eyes every few moments betrayed that he was unsure as how to proceed.

"Was I late?" she asked trying to break the silence.

"No" Draco said quickly.

An even longer silence ensued. Then Draco straightened his posture a little and asked her: "How did you know?" His grey eyes piercingly focused on Clare, and Clare alone.

"Know what? I don't understand" she protested in confusion.

"Those things, what you said about me the other day. How did you figure out that much about me? You're just some mudblood's daughter, how could you know?"

The instant he said mudblood, she turned to leave.

"No, wait, I'm sorry I said mudblood."

She glared at him but she remained in the room.

"So, how did you know?"

"You're human Malfoy" she said matter-of-factly. "So, whether you want to admit it or not you're going to behave pretty much like the rest of us. Though you don't have to act worse, as you choose to do" she added. "With that knowledge, and a general idea of your character and upbringing from your own actions, and what I know of your family, I formed the summary I shared with you last week." Clare had no inkling as to why she had suddenly fallen into her academic way of speaking, she wasn't at a debate, she was talking to a boy her own age, who apparently had no intent of killing her as she had once suspected.

"Oh" Draco said thoughtfully. "I have another question" he said after some pause, "Why, for the last several months have you act frightened of me, and ran whenever you saw me?"

"I would think the answer to that was pretty obvious, I thought you were trying to kill me!"

"Me? Why… Why would I want to… Why would you think I was trying to kill you?" He finally managed to ask. His confusion had momentarily rendered him incapable of forming a coherent question.

"Dumbledore was right!" Clare observed to herself.

"What's _He got to do with it?" Draco queried venomously. He disliked Dumbledore, but more than that he disliked not knowing why Clare had believed him out to assassinate her._

"_Your aunt, Bellatrix, she annihilated all but a few members of my family. She, and some of your other relatives. Now do you understand why I feared you were out to kill me?"_

"_Oh, I had no idea."_

"_Like I said, Dumbledore was right. He didn't think you did."_

"_But why?" he asked, ignoring her statement about Dumbledore. "Why would my family kill yours?"_

"_Because, your second cousin, Sirius Black fancied my Muggle mum!" she blurted out in anger. She clasped both her hands over her mouth as soon as she'd said it. She had not intended to tell Draco so much, or anyone for that matter._

_Draco stared at her, completely dumbfounded. Despite growing up with a Death Eater for a father, and his Death Eater friends for company, he still couldn't imagine slaughtering an entire family just because one of them had attracted the attention of an already estranged relative._

_Clare felt foolish. She had just spent months fearing and avoiding Draco for no sensible reason. She was angry with herself. She had let the opinions of others, compounded with her own fear, skew her image of the Slytherin boy who was sitting atop the table in front of her. _

"_Sorry about my family doing that to yours" he said at some length, for he could think of nothing else to say, and the silence had begun to oppress him._

"_Its okay, not like its your fault" she said moodily. "You weren't even born when most of them were killed."_

"_What? You cant be that much older than me?"_

"_No, you see, I wasn't alive either. I'm not even sure if 'I am' older than you. My birthday is in March."_

"_June" he stated._

_After yet another pause Clare took a step towards Draco and said: "I believe I owe you an apology."_

"_What?" he asked in shock. "My family murders yours, and you feel the need to apologize!"_

"_Its not about your family, its about you. I misjudged you because I judged you by my friends' opinions of you, by your house and by your family, I failed to see past your name, and I am sorry." Maybe she had been too selfish when planning her way to make Slytherin friends, picking the fairly likeable ones, instead of the ones that needed friendship the most._

_Draco recoiled from the feeling that touched him upon hearing her apology. He was entirely unaccustomed to genuine remorse being directed towards him._

"_You didn't fail so badly last week" he said, "you were fairly right about some of those things, well at least partially." He couldn't concede that she had been almost entirely right, not now, not when he knew so little of her. He found it hard to admit that others were right even after years of knowing them, so there was no chance that he would tell her she had actually been spot-on after not even an hour's worth of conversation and one shared potions assignment._

_Clare smiled and then walked up to him._

"_Thanks" she said. "Here…" she reached her hand out towards him. "I'm willing to look past your house and your name, will you do the same?" _

"_Why?" he asked before he could help it. He winced at how totally tactless and rude he had sounded. "Why do you want to?" he specified._

_She sighed in exasperation._

"_Because, now that I know you're not out to kill me I would like to get to know you!" She said as she fastened her green-brown eyes on him, watching his facial expression. "Listen, I know what you're thinking; you're thinking why on earth would I want to be friends with a Gryffindor, and visa versa, but think of it this way…" she said airily waving her hand through the air to signify the hugeness of her upcoming concept. "If we do become friends Draco, we'll be the first Gryffindor and Slytherin to do so in who knows how long? We could prove everyone wrong, and best of all, we could succeed where no one in recent memory has, we could show everyone that prejudice is just bogus and pointless." Clare smiled as she watched Draco's face lighten at the word "succeed" and the phrase "prove everyone wrong." She silently congratulated herself on wording her proposal of friendship in such a way that his ambitious Slytherin self could not pass up the opportunity of accepting her offer._

_He put out his hand and then took hers in it, shaking it cordially._

"_Snape was right about you" he said cocking his head slightly as he eyed her curiously, like she was some unique animal specimen. Her manners both confused and pleased him simultaneously. _

"_What did he say?"_

"_Oh, I heard him telling someone, I cant remember, it may have been your head of house or Dumbledore, that you were different than the rest of Gryffindor."_

"_In a good or bad way?" she asked coyly._

"_Good, or at least not bad. He said that you were a bit humbler than your housemates and you had a keen mind without being overbearing about your intelligence, we can only guess who he was referring to with that statement" Draco said with a chuckle._

"_Hermione" Clare supplied and joined in with her own quiet laugh._

_Clare sat down on the table, a few feet away from where Draco was perched on it. After a brief interlude of silence she turned to him and asked: "Have you ever had a friend outside of Slytherin before?"_

"_No" he replied in a tone that let Clare know that he had expected her to know this detail._

_She smiled and he couldn't help but return it._

_Over the next month the Gryffindor and the Slytherin spent a few hours here and there becoming acquainted with each other in the gloom of the abandoned classroom. They dared not publicize their friendship yet for fear of censure form their friends._

_During their conversations they found that they were much more alike than they had ever dreamed, but her impure blood bothered him, and his obsession with blood purity bothered her. Aside from these things they agreed fairly well, and on what they disagreed they decided to lay it aside and allow each other to hold their own separate, and often opposing, opinions. Occasionally her Gryffindor honor would find one of his remarks unbearable and they would quarrel. On other occasions his Slytherin pride would be affronted by a comment of hers and they would argue until they were both hoarse. But still, despite arguments and the self imposed secrecy of their friendship, it grew. Perhaps it grew because of the secrecy, because they were not forced to deal with the pressure that would inevitably come from their peers as soon as they publicized it. Such an unlikely friendship as theirs would not go by unnoticed and unscrutinized._

_. _


	9. Slytherin Concerns

_Draco may seem sligtly OOC and if so I apologize, I needed some things to happen and I had to bend his character a little, dont worry, he'll be back to himself in the next chapter._

It was two weeks before the final examinations of the term. Clare and Draco now spent all of their time studying, whether with each other or not. Draco found that Clare was rather good at the subjects that he was not, and the other way around. Together they teamed up whenever they could to help one another review.

"Its practice for next year" Clare said at the end of one of their clandestine meetings.

Draco groaned. "It will be okay, we can study together just like this year."

She gathered up her books and headed out.

"Clare" he called.

"I think its time we stopped."

Clare paled and grabbed the door frame.

"Why?" she said weakly.

"Well, aren't you tired of it?"

"Why would I be?"

"Do you like having to hide in this grimy classroom?"

"Well no, but that's no reason for us to stop being friends is it?"

"W-what?" he spluttered. "No, wait, I wasn't talking about stopping our friendship, I was talking about stopping all this hiding."

Clare laughed.

"Draco, have you forgotten that everyone in my house hates you."

"Well Slytherins are more reasonable."

She suppressed a laugh but then she thought about it.

"Maybe you're right" she said after a long pause. "After all, you're the most popular Slytherin, if you were introduced me as your friend to your other friends it would probably go a great deal better than the other way around."

Draco looked satisfied.

"Next time we study I'll bring some of my friends then."

"That's good" Clare replied thoughtfully. "You know what?" she said after some thought. "I think we should study in the library, and come what may!"

Draco's look of satisfaction broadened into a smile.

"Exactly!" he said coming towards her and then he hugged her around the shoulders.

"Just what are you so happy about?"

"I hate this classroom, always have, it… oh never mind, but I'm glad we're going to be rid of it and up in the library like civilized people."

"Alright, well I'm happy if you're happy and I suppose I can deal with my friends when the time comes."

"Alright" he said going out into the hall. "Goodnight Clarissa!"

"'night Draco" she said as she started walking in the opposite direction.

Draco looked back over his shoulder at her. He sighed in relief, she hadn't asked him why he hated that classroom so much. The honest truth was he had despised that room because it reminded him of the time she had jinxed him and ran. Which reminded him of what his family had done to hers.

Clare went down to the library, anxious that no one should see her. She and Draco had agreed in Potions the day before that today the would study with his friends.

She came up to the table, trying to ignore Pansy's presence.

"This is Goyle, and this is Crabbe" Draco said as she sat down in between him and Goyle.

"Nice to meet you both" she said as she emptied her school bag of its contents.

"I'm Blaise" the dark skinned boy across from her said rather stiffly.

"Nice to meet you too!" she said smiling.

Blaise couldn't help but smile back. Clare's cheerfulness was as infectious as the laughter of the Weasley twins.

The little group at the table started in with studying. Clare spent most of her time trying to explain things to Goyle and Crabbe. Blaise joined her and Draco grudgingly helped them too. He didn't really feel that there was any point in helping the two dunces he had for followers. However, after Crabbe and Goyle had stopped asking questions and started writing their essays Blaise, Draco, and Clare began discussing their schoolwork. Blaise was very skilled at Potions, but he was terrible at Transfiguration. Draco too was an excellent potioneer but he lacked the perseverance to stay awake during Binn's class to get good marks in History of Magic. Clare looked up and noticed that the fifth Slytherin was missing.

"Where's Pansy?" she asked.

"I don't know"

"She must have left."

"I hope I wasn't boring her" Clare said.

"When did she leave?" Draco asked.

"I don't know, and I'm pretty sure it wasn't boredom that made her leave" Blaise said.

"What then?… oh, she still hasn't forgiven me for hexing her I suppose." She sighed.

"Hey Daphne!" Blaise called out as the two Greengrass girls walked past.

"Mr. Zabini!" came Madam Pince's harsh voice, "this is a library, not a Quidditch game, I would thank you to keep your voice down, or don't use it at all!" She glared at him over her glasses and then swept away.

"Oh hey Blaise" Daphne whispered, her eyes following Pince's departing figure.

"Hey Daph, hey Astoria" Draco said lazily.

"Who is this?" Daphne said indicating Clare as she took in her Scarlet robes.

"This is Clare, she is helping us study."

Daphne cast her a sidelong glance and then sat down in between Draco and Blaise. Her little sister Astoria eyed everyone rather shyly and then blushing furiously sat down on the other side of Draco.

"Clare, this is Astoria" he said nodding his head towards his left, "and this is her older sister Daphne."

"It's a pleasure to meet you both" Clare said smiling at them and then Goyle asked her a question about Runes. She knelt on her seat and leaned over the table to see his work. Blaise noticed Draco noticing her.

"She is attractive, too bad her blood is so filthy with muggleness" he whispered to Draco.

"You're right about that."

"I'd even think about dating her if it wasn't for her 'glaring defects'" Blaise elaborated and saw a tinge of green color Draco's complexion. He smiled to himself a little, but he knew Draco would never date Clare. Draco noticed Blaise's amused expression and then said:

"She is my friend, and I kind of feel bad for her, the impurity of her blood will drive a lot of the best guys away from her. She may be doomed to be single forever" Draco said in a detached tone of voice.

"I have a question about making the shrinking potion, which ingredient do you add first?" she said pointing in her potions book at the list of ingredients.

They studied until right before dinner.

Blaise caught up with Draco later that day as he was entering the Great Hall for dinner.

"What's wrong with you?" Blaise asked.

"Nothing" he said absently.

"Listen if you're still worried about your friend Clare, forget it, she's pretty enough that those who aren't as civilized as us will have no hesitation about dating her. Look" he said pointing across the hall to where a delighted Seamus was dancing a reel with Clare at the head of Gryffindor's table, while the other student kept beat with their hands. Draco noticed the eyes of several boys from various houses' eyes glued to her petite form as she danced with a very pleased Seamus Finnegan. Draco smiled, she was happy, and he didn't know why, but that made him happy in a way too. He had never quite felt happy over someone else's happiness before. He shrugged his shoulders and sat down to dinner. However, he did glance more than once at Clare and when she was close to one of her male friends he felt a prickling of jealousy, though he did not focus on the feeling enough to name it such. Before his first plate was finished he had dismissed the prickling and began to pleasantly plow through his Pumpkin Pasties.

After dinner on her way up to Gryffindor Tower Clare was joined by George.

"So where were you today? Fred and I were looking for you."

"Really? Why?"

"We… we could do with some help on our History of Magic essay."

"Oh"

"Yeah, and you're the only person around here as smart as Hermione so we thought that you could help but don't tell Ron!"

"I wont, he wouldn't believe me anyways! You two actually working on homework? Who would?"

George threw back his ginger head and laughed.

"So where were you earlier? You seem to be disappearing a lot lately. So where is it you go on these mysterious adventures?" he asked teasingly.

"Well I had an "adventurous" time in the "mysterious" library" she said and they both laughed heartily. "Madam Pince came and told me to be quiet about half a dozen times."

"So you were with someone."

"No!"

"So you talk to yourself in the library?"

"No" she said turning red with frustration. She nearly yelled the password at the lady in pink.

She entered the common room with a still inquisitive George right behind her.

"Is it true?" Lavender asked as soon as Clare was inside the room.

"What?" she asked confused.

"Colin saw you in the library… with a bunch of Slytherins" Lavender said with an eager air about her.

"Yes, I was helping them study."

Everyone gasped.

"So, they're people too!" she said tiredly.

The news was out, and she didn't really care.

"Fred!" she yelled across the room.

"Yes" he said turning around.

"Grab your books!"

He stared and then went up to his room and returned with a book under his arm and some quills in his pocket.

Clare tried her best to ignore the din around her as everyone barraged her with questions and exclamations.

"One of them was Malfoy" Parvati said in scandalized shock.

"What?" Harry exclaimed, turning his attention from his book to Parvati and then to Clare.

"Yes, I was helping Draco, Crabbe, Goyle, Blaise, and the Greengrass girls study. There, so go gossip about that, see if I care!" she said as she glared at Lavender and Parvati in disgust and then stormed out of the common room. She was halfway down the stairs when a breathless Fred and George caught up with her.

"Hey Clare" they panted "wait up."

"Why, so you can cross-examine me and then decide never to talk to me again because I'm not bigoted like the rest of Gryffindor!" she shot at them.

They both looked at each other, slightly stunned.

"No Clare" George said as he put an arm around her shoulders and stopped her from walking.

"We think you've lost your mind, but we're not going to stop being your friend just because you're insane."

"Yeah, Ginny is friends with Luna so insanity does not effect our family's opinion of others."

Clare smiled up at the twins.

"I'm sorry" she said as her eyes took on a dewy appearance. "Sorry about snapping at you like that."

"So why 'are' you helping Malfoy and his gang study?"

Over the next few days Clare had to answer that question about one hundred times! Gradually, after a week of gossiping things died down a little, although Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione didn't speak to her much.

In the weeks leading up to examinations it seemed that only Neville, Seamus, and the twins would talk to her, and Luna of course. Things like house division didn't bother Luna. Gradually, through Luna Clare and Ginny returned to speaking terms, and through her Hermione, and the four boys brought Ron and Harry to their senses and by the time exams came around the subject was seldom discussed, though no one had forgotten it.


	10. Fire

Less than a week separated the students from exams. Everyone was on edge, and fortunately, too preoccupied with studying to care much about who Clare associated with. The year had been extremely rigorous and everyone felt as if they hadn't retained half of what they ought to have. Luckily, for those that Hermione couldn't find the time to help Clare was their next option. Her time with Draco was now benefiting everyone, for she had learned much about Potions from him. She suspected that Professor Snape shared tips on improved potion making with the members of his house that he did not share with students from other houses, but she kept this thought to herself.

On any given night in the weeks that lead up to exams Clare could be found pouring over books with fellow Gryffindors. She stayed up until the wee hours of the morning helping friends study as well as putting in a little solitary study time. She could be most frequently seen assisting Seamus, Neville, or Lavender. Though in all honesty Clare found helping Lavender both tedious and rather pointless, but she tried her best all the same.

One night Clare had been trying to help Lavender with her Defense Against the Dark Arts homework when Lavender, who had been digressing about how shocking it had been when last year their Defense teacher had been revealed to be a werewolf. Then she turned to Clare and asked her point blank: "So, has anyone asked you out yet?"

"What?" Clare exclaimed. "Lavender, how on earth did we get from Defense Against the Dark Arts to Dating?"

"I was just wondering" she replied unfazed by Clare's appalled expression. "I mean it is pretty obvious that a lot of guys like you. Like Seamus, he is totally mad about you, you knew that right? I mean he took me to the Yule Ball, but if you had been around I'm sure he would have asked you instead."

"Oh, I didn't know you were his date for the Yule Ball" Clare said, thinking that if Seamus had liked Lavender at one time, it did nothing to raise her opinion of his taste in women. "Listen" Clare said after some pause, "if you're uncomfortable or jealous because Seamus likes me, or so you say, I'd like to know."

"Oh no!" Lavender said as she broke out into laughter. "I've been over him for months now! I didn't actually like him that much to start with" she added in a confidential whisper, "I just didn't want to go to the Yule Ball alone, that would have been ever so embarrassing."

Clare smiled politely at Lavender's prattle and then looked back down at the book they had been studying.

"I just wanted to know if 'you' liked anyone here, or if there was someone back at your old school that you are still sweet on? And that's why you haven't said yes to any of the guys who have asked you out here? I think an overseas sweetheart would be so romantic!" she said dazedly.

"Well, for your information, no one 'has' asked me! And I don't have a sweetheart at Amstax!"

Clare said snappily, it was so frustrating trying to deal with a girl whose brains clearly consisted of Cotton Candy and Marshmallows! She sighed, messaging her temples, and then slammed her book shut.

Lavender yawned and then got up and went up to their dormitory. Clare lingered in the abandoned Common Room for a while longer. Why hadn't Seamus asked her out yet? Or Justin for that matter.

By Wednesday of that week the entire incident had been forgotten, and Clare was far too concerned with preparing for finals the next week to even think about Seamus, or Justin, or anyone for that matter.

It was late Wednesday and Clare was plodding her way up the stairs to Gryffindor Tower and mulling over tomorrow's study session with Draco, when Seamus looked down from the top of the stairwell and the gave a nervous jump. He came down to her side and offered to help her with her books.

"Thanks Seamus" she said kindly though her exhaustion showed in her voice.

"So wo-… how was your day?"

Clare's eyebrows came together in bewilderment at the peculiarity of such a question. Asking how someone was was normal, asking about their day, it just sounded so… forced.

"Good, lots of studying, I have so much to memorize before next week!"

Seamus nodded.

"I've been wondering, and I know you're really stressed out with studying, which by the way thanks for helping me with mine, and I know its probably not the best time, but I feel I've put it off way too long, and everyone says its high time I asked you, not that I'm just asking you because they think I should. But they do have a point, I mean if I don't ask you now, someone else may ask you before I do!"

Seamus had said it all so fast that Clare had only caught half of it, but she couldn't escape the general gist of what he was saying. She smiled slightly, though her eyebrows were still contracted in concentration.

"Seamus" she said, "you haven't asked me whatever it was you were going to ask me yet?"

"Oh… I haven't?"

Clare shyly shook her head.

"Well, what I meant to ask you, was would you go out with me?"

"And my answer is yes."

A big wide smile burst onto Seamus' face and the desire to break into an Irish jig with Clare as he had done the previous month, seized him, but he contained it and simply spoke the password and helped her in through the hole behind the portrait.

As they came in together Clare noticed Dean scrutinizing them, and then Seamus giving a thumbs up. Dean promptly broke into applause and everyone else followed suit. The twins made several wolf-whistles while Lavender winked at Clare and applauded happily. Neville came up and clapped Seamus on the back and congratulated him. The whole event was celebrated in true Gryffindor style, the twins even nicked some food for the occasion.

Seamus had to endure hearing "it took you long enough" and "keep a girl waiting, why don't you, Finnegan?" as well as "we were all wondering when you would get around to it" and variations of each multiple times.

Clare smiled, proud of her first boyfriend, happy to have been finally asked by someone, and pleased that it had been who it was. For Seamus was a good sort of person, and very polite, but also very fun too. Throughout the evening she noticed an exchange of coins. First it was Lavender receiving what looked like 2 Sickles from a disgruntled Parvati. Then she saw a jubilant George getting some Knuts from his less enthused twin. And, for just a moment, she thought she caught a glimpse Harry handing Neville a few coins. She couldn't see Neville gambling, but it seems he had, and he had been on the winning side. She smiled happily. That night everyone seemed to forget about studying, even Hermione didn't start up about needing to study until about 10 o'clock. Lavender could not stop going on about how she had known all along, and that even Professor Trelawney had predicted it.

As Clare lay in bed that night, her happy thoughts of getting her first boyfriend were counterbalanced with not so happy thoughts at about the half dozen disappointed faces she would have to see when the news got out that she and Seamus were dating. But what could she do?… she liked Seamus best, and he had asked first. She turned her face to the wall and banished her melancholy thoughts.

After a cozy breakfast by the lake with Seamus Clare went to class in a state of cheerfulness to rival her usual self. She even wished Cedric Diggory luck when they passed in the halls. Soon enough most of the school knew the cause of Clare's happiness and the majority congratulated her. A few sulky boys just looked at her like it was her fault that they hadn't asked her out. And Justin, Justin the sweet muggle-born Hufflepuff just looked at her being crucio-ed was more bearable than the sight of her. She felt so bad for him. She tried to talk to one of his friends about it during Herbology but Seamus kept talking to her. And her and Seamus had a way of getting caught up in conversation and forgetting everything else. They were so involved in a conversation about Scottish Quidditch teams that they were late for Potions and cost Gryffindor 10 points apiece.

Clare was preparing to go and meet up with Draco in the library when Seamus caught up with her.

"Hey Clare, where are you going?"

"Study with some friends."

"Oh" Seamus said. He had forgotten about her Slytherin friendships. "Can I come?"

"You want to come with me? to study with Slytherins?"

"Sure, why not?"

Clare just smiled up at Seamus and then impulsively kissed his cheek.

He grinned ear to ear and then helped her out of the portrait hole.

They walked slowly to the library, his arm around her shoulders. As they entered the library Clare spotted Draco sitting in the corner. He looked up and gaped slightly at the sight of Clare being accompanied by a member of her own house.

"Hey Draco" Clare called out.

"Hey Clare."

"Draco" she said in a high-pitched voice "this is, Seamus."

"I know."

"He's my boyfriend."

Draco's head snapped up from the book he had been casually perusing.

"What?" he exclaimed before he knew what he was saying.

"Yes, I have as much of a right to date as anyone else!"

"Yeah" he said "it just surprised me. So are we gonna study?"

"Yeah, Seamus is really good at charms" she said brightly.

Draco just nodded.

After about five minutes of studying Draco abruptly said "you know I don't feel much like studying" and grabbed his books and left without another word.

Clare just looked at Seamus in bewilderment.

"Maybe he just wanted to let us alone, you know, maybe he figured that seeing as we're together we didn't want him around."

"But that's not true! Is it?" she asked turning to Seamus.

"Well I can't say I miss him" Seamus said.

She smiled at him. He could be so wicked in every sense of the word. They sat there studying together until they became distracted with talk about what Hagrid would look like without a beard. Their riotous laughter brought Madam Pince's wrath upon them and they were both unceremoniously ousted from the library and told not to return until they learned to control their frivolousness.

The next morning Clare solemnly told herself that she would talk to one of Justin's friends about how badly he had been hurt by her and Seamus being together. She wanted to remain friends with him. She just didn't know how to go about patching up the hole that her relationship with Seamus had caused. She certainly wasn't going to stop dating him! She loved spending time with him. He was so much fun to be around. Even if he had accidently set her scarf on fire at lunch.

As she entered the Great Hall she caught sight of Cedric and Cho walking around the entrance, loathe to part each other's company.

"Hey" she called out.

"Oh, hey Clare" Cho said.

"Hey"

"Um, Cedric, I was wondering... uh... how badly is Justin taking my being Seamus' girlfriend. I knew he liked me, or so I'd been told, and I was wondering if he's decided not to be my friend anymore or what?"

"Yeah, about that, he came and talked to me last night in the common room about you. He's really sad, but hopefully he'll realize it was his own fault and do better next time. Honestly, I thought he would have asked you out months ago, he seemed to be really sweet on you."

"He's just shy" Cho chided mildly.

"I know Cho. Well did that help?" Cedric asked courteously.

"Yeah, thanks Cedric. See you two later!"

"See ya"

"Bye Clare"


	11. Reparo

Draco didn't talk to Clare for a few days and she found this peculiar. She tried to talk to him once or twice but he would always start being deeply engrossed in something as soon as she approached. She finally gave up and decided if he was going to give her the cold shoulder she would give him the total iceberg treatment. She ceased to even acknowledge him when they passed.

Finally, in Ancient Runes, Draco and Clare were paired together for an assignment on Motion-Reversing Runes.

"So" Clare said icily as they moved to a corner of the room to practice, "have you gotten over yourself enough to talk to me or shall I do this assignment on my own, I could you know."

"Of course I know that, you're fabulous at Runes, even better than that mudblood Granger, who gets top marks in everything."

"DON'T CALL HER THAT DRACO MALFOY!" Clare shouted.

"Okay, Miss muggle-born Granger."

"You know it is possible to talk about someone without putting their blood-status before their name. It's not like it matters."

"Of course it matters!"

"I'm sure the two of you are having a fascinating conversation but it doesn't sound like it is pertinent to the assignment" Professor Babbling chided.

"If it matters so much then why do you talk to me?" she asked harshly.

"You're different; you don't act like a mud… muggle- born."

Clare laughed. "And what Mr. Pureblood-supremacist does the typical muggle-born act like?"

Draco stammered, he had no reasonable answer for her question.

"We're just as different as you are from Ronald Weasley."

"But that Granger girl is irritating."

"You just don't like her because she gets higher marks than you." Clare looked up straight into Draco's grey eyes and then gently said "you're jealous Draco, it's your worst fault, you're jealous of Hermione because you always come in second to her. You're jealous of Harry's popularity, and I'm not really sure why you're jealous of Ron, you're filthy rich and he's poor as a potato farmer."

"You wouldn't understand" he said bitterly "you weren't here."

"Ten points from Slytherin and ten from Gryffindor" Professor Babbling said sternly.

Draco and Clare looked at each other and grimaced.

After class Draco came up behind Clare.

"I'm sorry about not talking to you lately, I was in a bad mood."

"Well don't take your mood swings out on your friends, it's just not cool."

Draco laughed softly, and then asked her "do you want to study after dinner then?"

"Sure, it won't be 'til later though, Seamus and I have to take our usual walk."

Draco gritted his teeth, but Clare didn't see.

"You've been dating for not even two weeks and you already have a routine walk?" he asked with a combination of repugnance and bitterness.

"Yeah, it just started, you see I frequently went for walks alone in the evening before, but after we started dating it became a couple thing."

"Oh" he responded "well see you after you get done with your couple walk."

"Ok, see you later Draco."

Clare and Seamus sat next to each other during dinner and chatted. She happily told him that she and Draco were reconciled. He smiled for her sake; he could care less about the snooty git from Slytherin. After dinner they set out for their walk.

Draco got up from Slytherin's table and found his feet carrying him out of doors. He stretched and yawned as he looked out across the lake, the cloudy sunset reflected in its surface. As he blankly looked out towards the forest he caught sight of two figures in crimson edged robes walking around the lake holding hands. He felt he had to watch them. He knew it was Clare and her boyfriend and for some unknown reason he felt compelled to observe her. He saw the couple stop and watch the sun slip below the horizon in a blaze of fuchsia and orange. But as he turned his attention from the splendid sunset to the couple his jaw fell. The sandy-haired boy who blew things up had Clare in a warm embrace and his lips were on hers. Draco felt a combination of feelings so complex that he picked the most familiar, disgust, and harboring that feeling he went inside. But the other emotions kept creeping up along with the disgust. Jealousy. Distress. Indignation. All feelings that he had no right to be feeling, but felt all the same. He told himself that the jealousy was only caused because he was currently single. The distress was brought about because she was his friend and he wanted to look out for her and the indignation because he had been put behind her boyfriend.

Clare found Draco loitering in the entrance to the castle when she came in with Seamus. She was red-faced and smiling from ear to ear. He forced a smile onto his face.

"I'll see you later Seamus."

"See ya' love" he said with a big smile and short wink.  
>"Hey Draco, I brought my books with me on my walk so you wouldn't have to wait."<p>

Draco was disarmed, she had thought of him, even while she went out with her boyfriend he was still a priority for her. He felt very satisfied as they walked to the library. After all what did it matter what mad pubescent emotions were messing with his head when it came to Clare and Seamus, she was still his friend and he was just being stupid.

They enjoyed the peace of the library, what with examinations the next week and the final Triwizard Task the week after that Hogwarts was becoming a bit boisterous. But there, in the library, with nothing but the smell of books and the soft murmuring of other students trying to avoid Madam Pince's wrath, things were serene and pleasant.


	12. Hazard

**The Tournament**

Examinations were over and everyone was looking forward to the final Triwizard Task. Betting was rampant, Fred and George had laid down two whole sickles against Clare's bet that Viktor would win. She had also bet against Ernie McMillian about Cedric. She felt that it would either be Harry or Viktor.

Clare was walking down the halls when she felt a pair of slim hands cover her eyes.

"Guess who Clare?"

"Like I wouldn't recognize that slow drawl anywhere, Draco!" she said turning around to face him.

"I hear you've been doing a bit of sporting, that true?"

"Well I've got a bet with Ernie and the twins if that's what you mean."

"Well do you have enough money to spare to make a bet with me?"

"Come to think of it I do, my father sends me money every month but I've been saving it, so what is your wager Draco?"

"Ten Galleons on Cedric Diggory"

Clare's jaw fell. She blushed deeply and then in meek voice said.

"I can't" and then turned away.

"What? I didn't know you were poor!"

"I-I'm not, but not everyone has Galleons to throw around!" She sped away to the castle's exit.

"Clare! Clare!" Draco called out as he pursued her.

He grabbed ahold of the end of her flapping robes.

"Clare" he said pleadingly.

"What?" she said chokingly. He turned her around so that she faced him. She had tears running down her cheeks.

"What? Why are you crying?"

"Nothing, it's just I've never been called poor before!"

"Oh" Draco said awkwardly, "I'm sorry. I guess it's just 'cause I'm so rich, I think anyone who isn't as wealthy as me is poor."

Clare looked up at Draco and looked keenly into his eyes.

"What?" Draco asked in a tone of defense.

"I'm so proud of you" she said.

"What? For what?" he asked totally baffled about what he possibly could have done to make her proud, he was fairly sure he had just recently insulted her.

"You're beginning to see yourself through eyes other than your own."

"How so?"

"You see that your wealth has blinded you to what other people consider a goodly amount of money."

"Well, about our bet then" he said trying to switch the topic. It felt strange being praised for something akin to admitting fault with himself.

"2 Galleons on Harry."

"Fair enough, but tell me would you be supporting him so much if he wasn't your housemate.

"Well if he wasn't my housemate I'd be betting on Viktor, but they're pretty evenly matched. What with Harry having fought off You-Know-Who two different times already, and all, it makes up for the age and size difference."

A cloud passed over Draco's face. His father had told him that Easter that his Dark Mark was burning like it hadn't done in 15 years. Draco both feared and anticipated the Dark Lord's return. He knew his father wanted him to become a Death Eater as soon as he was old enough. After all Regulus Black had only been 16 when he joined the ranks. Draco looked into Clare's green-brown eyes. Could he kill her? She was a muggle-born's daughter. His aunt was in a blood feud with her family. He could very easily be asked to kill her. But maybe the Dark Lord wouldn't return, or maybe he would allow Clare to be spared. Draco had heard of something similar happening he couldn't remember the details but he clung to this hope and found comfort in it. He smiled down at her and then they began discussing the Tournament. Seamus came up to them.

"Hello" Draco said.

"Hi" Seamus said awkwardly. He looked suspiciously at Draco.

"Clare and I were just making some bets on the Tournament" Draco explained.

"Oh, well I'll wager you six Sickles that Harry wins!" Seamus said proudly.

"Alright, I do hate to take money from both of you, but it's your choice" Draco said with a laugh.

Seamus smiled despite himself. Draco wasn't entirely inhuman.

Clare and Seamus walked hand in hand for their walk and Draco felt nothing but hope for Clare. Maybe she was right? Maybe he was changing; after all he was in the midst of the most transitional time of his life. He could change couldn't he? He didn't have to become a Death Eater. Things looked hopeful and bright as he turned to go inside.

Clare came into the Common Room late that night, along with Seamus. They sat on the stairs to the boys dormitory and kissed and snuggled until the clock chimed midnight.

"See you tomorrow love" Seamus said as he gave Clare one final kiss.

She smiled and blushed "see ya' Seamus."

He started up the stairs and then turned and smiled at her. She hurried up the stairs and gave him a big hug. They just stood there and held each other for several minutes and then Clare stifled a yawn.

"Guess I better let you go now" he said almost despondently.

"I suppose so, it is getting late. Goodnight."

"'night"

Clare descended the stairs in a deliriously happy daze. It wasn't until she was approaching the stairs to the girls dormitories that she noticed something was out of place. She heard a sniffling sound in the corner, behind the clock. She went over and found Neville asleep in the corner. But his sleep was clearly troubled. She gently shook his shoulders until he awoke. He sat up with a start.

"C-clare?"

"Yes, Neville, it's me" she said comfortingly.

"It was terrible" he said and hid his face.

"Oh, buck up Neville, it was just a dream."

"But I've never had a dreams about it before, I couldn't bear it, seeing it, I'm not even sure if that's what it looked like, but it was terrible, Clare."

"What Neville? What was so terrible?"

"I saw my mum and dad, I saw them being tortured, but not by Bellatrix" Clare gave a little yelp at the mention of Mrs. Lestrange. Neville looked up at her. "Professor Moody was torturing them, it was dreadful."

"I never knew your parents were tortured by Bellatrix" Clare said.

"Most people don't" he said bashfully.

"Most people don't know about me either."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, nothing, its just that, well, the reason I was so afraid of Draco at the beginning of the year was because, well, his aunt, Bellatrix Lestrange, she killed all of my family, everyone except for my mum and dad, that's why we moved to the states when I was little. She vowed to kill all of us, me included, and…" Clare fell silent.

"And what Clare?"

"Well, she really wants to kill my mum, she's the real reason everyone else in my family got murdered."

"How? I mean why?"

"It's a long story, but come on, the tournament is tomorrow and we don't want to miss it because we slept in."

"It's in the afternoon Clare."

"Alright, but Neville, you have to promise not to tell anyone, and don't let on about it either, it would kill Seamus if he found out that I'd told anyone before him, but, well, he's so carefree, I really don't think he'd get it."

"I promise Clare" Neville said seriously.

"Sirius Black was in love with my mother, and Bellatrix killed all of my family, and my mum's friends too, because my mum was a muggle and she thought that she was the reason that Sirius became a blood traitor."

"B-but I thought Sirius was a Death Eater, how could he be a blood traitor?"

"That's the confusing part, but I know, and you can't tell Harry this, or anyone else, Harry's dad and Sirius were really good friends, both my mum and dad can attest to this , so either Sirius was a traitor or he was framed. Maybe that's just me, I'd hate to think that my mum was in love with someone who was as insanely evil as they claim Sirius Black is." She laughed lightly.

"I never knew all that" Neville said in amazement.

"Most people don't."

"Right" Neville was thoughtful for a moment. "You know Clare?"

"What?"

"You and me, we're quite a bit alike."

"Yes, I suppose we are" she smiled in a sisterly sort of way at Neville and he returned it.

"Goodnight"

"Goodnight Neville"


	13. The Tournament

Clare grabbed her "Go Harry" banner and practically flew down the stairs and out of the castle. She was late for the beginning of the Triward Tournament's final task. She came panting up to the stands just in time to see the four competitors enter the maze.

"Clare" Seamus said, "I was wondering where you were."

"Oh, sorry, I got caught up in getting ready, did I miss anything important?"

"No, not really."

"Good."

After about fifteen minutes of waiting Clare and Seamus took a walk to stretch their legs. It was cool behind the stands and Seamus held her close to keep her warm. Soon they were wrapped in each other's arms and happily snogging away. They heard shouts about red sparks and broke off their kissing to see what it was all about.

"Where were you two?" George asked.

"Nowhere" Seamus replied as Clare turned pink all the way back to her ears.

George and Fred both laughed heartily and winked at Clare and quietly congratulated Seamus. Things were calm for a while. Clare gossiped with Katie and some of her other friends. She socialized throughout the stands. She saw a bedraggled Fleur Delacour come out of the maze, she looked as if she might cry. After a quick talk with the judges she ran to the loo by the stands Clare could only imagine that she was going there to cry more than to clean up. Madam Maxine did not look pleased. She went and talked to the judges who nodded and looked concerned. Fleur reappeared soon after and came and explained to the judges that no one had been around when she had fallen unconscious, so she did not suspect any of her fellow competitors.

Then after about fifteen minutes Viktor Krum emerged. He looked extremely stern as he approached the judges, the stands went silent and those nearest were perfectly capable of hearing what was said. His words were repeated throughout the stands "I was Imperio-ed into doing something against my moral code, I withdraw. But I don't think that this will end well, it was none of my competitors, someone is in that maze aside from us contestants." Karkaroff looked completely outraged. He approached Krum with every intent of dragging him away by his collar, but the bulky Bulgarian simply looked down his sharp nose at his headmaster, and then walked away.

The judges began frantically talking to one another. The people in the stands began talking to one another about what might happen, would the contest be called off. Rumor of this reached the judges and after a short conference they decided that the contest would not be cancelled, this non-contestant was just an unexpected obstacle for competitors, they assured the crowd that they would send some faculty members to look for the intruder as soon as Harry and Cedric had returned.

Tension filled the crowd as they waited anxiously, something had gone wrong. People began to talk of past Tri-Wizard tournaments and the deaths that had occurred. Cho was ringing her hands and looked so worried that it seemed she might faint from anxiety. Clare walked over to the cluster of Ravenclaws, most of whom were Cedric supporters.

Just as Clare reached Cho to tell her some comforting words a gasp went up throughout the stands. Clare turned to see a bloodied Harry and a vacant-eyed Cedric on the green grass not far from the entrance to the maze. Cho flew towards the lowest row of seats and she leaned out over the railing calling Cedric's name, louder and louder, until it became the funereal wail that it was. Cho shook her head as they carried Cedric's lifeless form away.

The judges announced what everyone had already surmised, Cedric Diggory, Hufflepuff House's Seeker and Hogwarts Champion was dead. Cho collapsed into the arms of her friends. Flitwick and Sprout came over to where she was and gently revived her. She looked up at their kind, pity-soaked expresions and then burst out crying Melanie Corner and Clare helped her to her feet and together they supported her and lead her away from the scene as fast as possible.

In the castle they took Cho up to the Ravenclaw Common Room's entrance.

"Come on Clare, it's not against any rules for you to be here and I think it will take both of us" Melanie whispered after Cho had entered the Common Room.

"Okay," Clare said and she stepped into the Ravenclaw Common Room. Had she not been distracted with comforting Cho she would have seen that the Common Room was designed perfectly for studying, plenty of windows, and very well placed lamps. Bookshelves on most of the walls and an open layout. However, she noticed none of this Cho was wailing and all she and Melanie could do to comfort her was to give her their shoulders to moisten with tears.

Gradually more students began returning to the Common Room and after Cho had cried herself tearless Clare excused herself and made her way to her own Common Room.


End file.
